Athletes - Todd Helton

Home > Listing Index > Athletes > Todd Helton

	Athletes - Todd Helton

|}

Todd Lynn Helton (born August 20, 1973 in Knoxville, Tennessee) is a Major League Baseball first baseman who has played for the Colorado Rockies since the 1997 season. He bats and throws left-handed.

Early Career

Todd Helton was drafted in the 1st round 8th overall in the 1995 by the Colorado Rockies. Todd spent the next few years playing for the New Haven Ravens, AA and Colorado Springs Sky Sox AAA. Helton dominated the minors and was soon called up on August 2, 1997. After the end of the 1997 season he hit .280, and 5 homeruns. When Andrés Galarraga went to the Atlanta Braves, Helton would finally have the chance he deserved. Todd proved that he belonged to the big leagues when he hit .315, 25 homeruns, and 97 RBI while finishing second in the NL Rookie Of The Year award. In 1999 Helton would carry the Rockies on his back by hitting .320, 35 homeruns, and 113 RBI. They would finish an unimpressive 72-90. After two really impressive seasons Helton would have a chance to shine in the 21st century in 2000. Since the 2000 season he would go on to establish himself as one of the best hitters in the history of baseball putting on unbelievable numbers. In 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005 he has remained Colorado's best hitter.

In 2000, Helton enjoyed his best season, leading the National League hitters in batting average (.372) and tying Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra with the highest batting average in 2000. In 2000 he led the major leagues in RBI (147), hits (216), doubles (59), total bases (405), on base percentage (.463), slugging average (.698) and OPS (1.162), being considered for the MVP award (5th). 2001 was Helton 2nd best season to date has he hit a career high 49 homeruns, 146 RBI. Todd was a top canidate for MVP, but was overshadowed by Sammy Sosa, and Barry Bonds, and the fact that he plays half his games at hitter friendly Coors Field.

During the 2005 season Helton was in the biggest slump in his career in offensive categories. Helton would bounce back to hit .383 (92-for-240) over final 69 games beginning July 1, highest average in the majors in that span, 24 points higher than the next closest batter (Cleveland's Victor Martinez, .359)...hit .367 (76-for-207) after the All-Star break, In 2005 Todd injured his left calf muscle forcing him out of play from July 26 to August 9th. It was the first time Helton was ever on the disabled list. Todd Helton has played his entire carrer in Colorado. This is a rare feat that was popular past with players such as Cal Ripken, Tony Gwynn, Mike Schmidt, Carl Yastrzemski, Robin Yount, Johnny Bench, George Brett (baseball), and many others . Todd will be a free agent after the 2011 season.

With his glove, Helton is solid at first base. No active first baseman, or few former first baseman can match his skills at first base. A winner of three Gold Glove Awards (2001, 2002, 2004), he looks smooth around the bag and makes plays that most first basemen would not. However, his arm is average, and very accurate at best. He currently has the highest batting average (.337) among all active players as of 2006.

As of the start of the 2006 season, Helton holds the Colorado Rockies club records for Hits (1535), Home runs (271), Doubles (373), Walks (773),Runs scored (924), Rbi (915), On-Base Percentage (.443), Games Played (1279), Total bases (2769), and other categories.

Career Statistics

Season Statistics

Early years

In his youth, Helton was a good student and a promising star in football and baseball. At Knoxville Central High School, he was a quarterback and a defensive back in football, and was recruited to play for the University of Alabama and the University of Tennessee. He was also drafted by the San Diego Padres but instead chose college, and went on to play football and baseball at Tennessee. At Tennessee, he played backup quarterback behind Heath Shuler, Jerry Colquitt and Peyton Manning. He led the Vols to an upset win over Georgia. He then led the baseball Vols to the SEC championship and to the College World Series. Some say that if he choose to stick with his football career, he could be an everyday starter for or backup for some teams.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Todd Helton ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Todd Helton; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Athletes - Todd Helton

Early Career

Early years

Searches on eBay

Related searches on eBay